Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) plans to sign on Mar 22 an agreement to provide JPY13.79 billion ($147 million) in official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam to upgrade 44 bridges that serve the 1,700-km Hanoi-HCM City railway. The Vietnamese government will contribute VND1 trillion. The total sum will be used to upgrade 44 railway bridges from northern Ninh Binh province to HCM City. At present, 10 out of these bridges have been upgraded, 18 are being upgraded. “Under our plan, this project will be completed in 2016,” said Nguyen Van Anh, deputy chief of Project Implementation Department No.1 under the state-owned Vietnam Railway Corp’s Railway Projects Management Unit. “This project will help reduce the trains’ running hours from the existing 27 hours to 24 hours. It will also help the trains transport passengers and goods in a safer manner and ensure railway safety,” Mr. Taketomo said. The project has been implemented by Japanese construction firms including Tekken, Manuberi, Yokogawa, Mitsui Ship Building, Rinkai and Taisei, and Vietnamese construction firms such as CIENCO1 and Thang Long. (vir.com.vn Mar 12)
